Prologue

Aboda Village

THINGS TO DO

Talk to the villagers for gameplay tips.

Pick up and smash the rocks for Rupees.

Talk to Alfonzo

After Niko regales you with his tale of yore, exit the hut and run north to the train platform. You can talk to the town folk to get used to basic controls if you want. If you roll into the tree as advised, bees will chase you and you'll need to jump into the water, enter a building or just outrun them.

Alfonzo awaits on the train platform along the north end of the village. Talk to him and you'll board the train for the first time. You'll need to get to Hyrule castle in 300 seconds for your "final exam" as a train engineer. As soon as the train departs, crank the speed up to maximum using the lever on the right side. Check out our Basics section for more on train operation.

To avoid the other trains on the tracks you need to change tracks at the intersections. Look at the paths of the other trains and avoid them by getting behind them or slipping by while they are on a different portion of track. You can also wait at an intersection for the trains to go by. Take a right at the first intersection, a left at the second, right at the third and then stay on course to the castle.

If pigs are lazing about the tracks, you can blow your whistle to clear them off. Throw the train into reverse at the castle's station and then bump it up into the stop position to completely stop.

Castle Town

THINGS TO DO

Check your mail at the mailbox at the north end of town.

Talk to villagers. Visit the shop and get a feel for bustling Castle Town.

Head to the Castle

You may want to take some time to explore Castle Town and acquaint yourself with its residents and businesses. Of note is the Endurance Trials shop in the lower right corner (which you can't play until after the Forest Temple dungeon) and the item shop in the northwest. You can return here later to buy a shield for 80 Rupees.

Head due north to enter the castle. Proceed north and talk to the smaller, fatter guard. Answer him affirmatively to enter the castle.

Hyrule Castle

THINGS TO DO

Receive your Royal Engineer's Certificate.

Read Zelda's letter and find her room.

Help Zelda escape the castle.

Go up the stairs and you'll view a lengthy cutscene in which Zelda slips you a note along with your engineer's credentials. Press pause and open your Collection menu to read the letter. It shows you path to Zelda's quarters.

Zelda instructs you to avoid being seen by guards, so don't talk to anyone on the way there. You don't need to obey her royal decree, but she's the princess, so why not? Leave the royal throne area. Go into the southeast corner of Floor 1 of the castle interior and take the stairs up.

Now outside, go due north along the west side of the castle wall. Hop down onto the platform under the door marked on Zelda's map. Enter the door and go to the stairs leading up in the north (also marked on Zelda's map). Answer Zelda's queries affirmatively and she'll give you the Recruit's Suit, which you may recognize.

Follow Zelda out the door. You'll now assume control over Zelda and Link. For tips on controlling Zelda, check out our Basics section. She'll follow you if you set her to "Call," and a blue circle will appear under her. Tap Zelda and a pink circle will appear and she'll stop following you. You can draw a path for her using this pink circle.

For now, have Zelda follow you to the south. Follow behind the guard as he rounds out the southern portion of his patrol. Run to the door as he turns the corner.

Once outside, make sure Zelda is in pink mode and hop down to the grass. Move to the east side of the nearest guard and talk to him so he faces the wall. He'll keep looking that way as long as Link stays there. Tap Zelda's icon and draw a path for her to just between the two small hedges south of the soldier, just outside his view.

Now, tap Link's icon and run past the princess to the next guard. Go to the northwest side of the guard and talk to him so he faces away from Zelda's next apth. Draw a path for her down to the long hedge below this guard. Move her to just out of view of the next soldier -- Zelda should be on the west side of this southern hedge.

You cannot distract this guard with idle chit chat. Pick up a boulder and toss it behind him. When he turns around, draw a path for Zelda to the safety of the hedge below this guard and to the west. She's not entirely safe here, so while she's walking, toss another boulder behind the guard to extend his distraction.

Quickly switch back to Zelda and draw a path for her to exit via the door in the far south leading into Castle Town. A long cutscene will ensue after you board your train.

Hyrule Castle Part II

THINGS TO DO

Treasure hunt in Hyrule Castle.

Talk to the guard blocking the door on Floor 1.

Obtain a sword from the armory.

Exit to the Tower Path.

When you awake, back in Hyrule Castle, talk to Teacher and answer his questions honestly. Leave the room and head south.

Follow Zelda's apparition into the throne room. Follow her through the door and up the stairs. After a cutscene, you'll have access to the Spirit Flute in the pause menu! You can't do anything with it at the moment.

Go to the stairs leading down on the west side of the castle. Grab the red rupee in the treasure chest in the southwest corner on your way. A door along the west side leads out to an area with another treasure chest -- this one contains a random Treasure (see our Basics section for more on Treasure).

Take the stairs down and pass the guard blocking the doorway. Open the chest to find red rupee. Break the pots for more rare treasure items and then talk to the guard. He'll refer you to the armory. This is on Floor one, in the northeast corner. You'll have to go up and around to get to it. Be sure to smash all the pots along the way for goodies.

Talk to the head of the Royal Guard and he'll give you a sword. For information on swordplay, check out our Basics section. Tap on the guards to attack them for the first round. When all three are bowing, you've completed the round. For the second round, you need to swipe quick lines through the guards. For the last round, approach each guard and draw circle around Link to perform a spin attack.

Return to the guard blocking the door in the central north room of Floor 1. You'll need to go up and around to get here.

The Tower Path

THINGS TO DO

Bomb the weakened wall.

Find the Small Key.

Solve the switch puzzle.

Free the guard by attack the enemies tormenting him. He'll clue you in to a weakend wall. The weak portion can be found by smacking wall along the northern border of the area with your sword. The weak spot will sound different than the rest when you strike it. A small stretch in the middle of the northern wall "thuds" differently than the rest.

You may have noticed a Bomb Flower on the west side of this upper area. You can tap this to pick up a bomb and then tap the spot you want to deploy it. Toss a bomb in this manner at the weak portion of wall to create a hole. Enter the hole.

ENEMY PROFILE

Keese are bats that you can destroy with just about anything -- if you can chase them down. Once you get a boomerang you can take them out easily. Until then, use your sword to slash them with wide swings. If they are on fire, beware! Your sword is useless. Use a boomerang or alternate weapon to destroy them.

The passage leads past some basic enemies and finally to an area with a locked door. To access this door you'll have solve a rudimentary puzzle. The block to the south can be pushed and pulled from any direction. Just tap it, then tap the arrow pointing in the direction you want to push it. You may have to reposition yourself to push in a perpendicular direction.

Push and pull the block so that it rests on the pressure pad just to the north. This will bring down the blue door to the right. Open the chest here for a Small Key. Use the key on the locked door.

Hop across the watery gaps and read the tablets on this next level. They give you a clue about the next room. To access this room, you'll need to use the Bomb Flowers to destroy the blocks blocking the path north. Check the treasure chest by the Bomb Flowers for a red rupee. You should have enough (80) for a Shield now!

Bomb the blocks and you'll come across four switches. You must hit these in the order mentioned by the tablets below. This order is: east, north, south, west (i.e. right, top, bottom, left). You have to hit these within a time limit. Just tap each one in order and they'll turn green. The door to the north will open allowing to you continue.

ENEMY PROFILE

Rats are weak enemies that appear from holes in the wall. They can be killed with any weapon, and generally run in straight lines, making them easy to avoid. A block can be moved in front of a rat hole to prevent them from spawning. Zelda, in Phantom form, is startled by rats and cannot proceed until they are dealt with.

In the next area, several rats will appear and frighten Zelda. Hit them with sword attacks and continue north to the Tower of Spirits.

Dungeon: The Tower of Spirits Floors 1-3

Floor 1

THINGS TO DO

Find the three Tears of Light.

Inhabit the Phantom

Upon entering Floor 1, you'll be forced to retreat by the appearance of a Phantom. Phantoms are all but invincible, so the only way to survive an encounter with one is to outrun it or stun it and have Zelda inhabit it. The purple areas of the floor are spots of safety that Phantoms cannot access. Run to these to avoid them.

To inhabit them, you'll need to hit them with a charged sword. To charge your sword you'll need three Tears of Light. Beware: these will be reset each time you leave the dungeon door. The first and second Tears are in the western and northern extremities of Floor 1.

ENEMY PROFILE

The large suits of armor that patrol the tower's floors are called Phantoms, and they are all but invincible to Link's attacks. If you charge up your sword with the power of Light (by collecting Light 3 Tears), you'll be able to attack a Phantom from the rear to stun it. Tap it one more time and Zelda will inhabit the Phantom.

When Zelda occupies a Phantom's body, you can control her by selecting the pink icon and drawing a line to where you want her to walk or attack. Depending on the type of Phantom she inhabits, she'll be able to light torches, roll like a giant wrecking ball or teleport as you direct her with your stylus. If you don't want to be bossy, just tap the "Call" icon and Zelda will follow you. Just don't expect her to leap in to battle if she's not actively controlled.

Collect these avoiding the gaze of the Phantom as it patrols the middle section of the level. When you get the one in the north, look for the purple Crystal Switch to the right. As soon as you smack this with your sword, you'll have to run to the bridge it makes on the east side, leading to the final Tear.

Make sure the Phantom is not patrolling the east side when you make your run. After you've powered up your sword, you'll now need to hit the Phantom. You need to hit it from the rear. Just follow it around its clockwise path and smack it with your sword.

You'll now be in control of Zelda and link, much like in the garden. Check out our Basics section for more on controlling Phantom Zelda. Draw a path from Zelda to the huge, central door using the pink icon.

Have Link grab one door, while Zelda grab the other. They will push it open, revealing the stairs leading up.

Floor 2

THINGS TO DO

Navigate the floor's puzzles.

Draw a path for Zelda across the spikes -- she can cross these unharmed. From the other side of the spikes, draw a path to the Crystal Switch just to the east. Have the path terminate at the switch and Zelda will hit it, allowing Link through.

Both Zelda and Link should go to the southwest corner. There are two floor switches here. Have Link stand on one and Zelda on the other to open the blue door.

The area in the south has Rats running around in it. Kill the Rats and push the block in front of the hole they are streaming from. Kill any remaining rats and have Zelda cross the area.

Another set of spikes blocks your path now. You know what to do. Have Zelda cross the spikes and hit the Crystal Switch by the stairs. After this, draw a line to Phantom, approaching from the side, and you'll be able to stand there and distract him. Link can pass to his side while he's turned towards Zelda. You can now slash him and have Zelda inhabit his body if you wish.

RETURN FOR TREASURE

Come back with a Bomb Bag (purchase it from Beedle's Balloon Shop) and you'll be able to bomb the cracked wall in the northwest corner of Floor 2. This will allow you to reach the two treasure chests on Floor 2.

Floor 3

On Floor 3 you'll find the Forest Rail Map on a pedestal in the middle of the room. Grab it to restore some tracks to the Forest area of the Rail Map. Step into the blue light to return to the Tower train platform.